{"id":106,"ordinal":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:40:34","content_modified":"2026-07-28 04:13:20","featured":1,"title":"Movie Theaters","creator":"Julian Boughton","description":"<p>As Euro-American settlers moved west in the mid-1800s, demand for live entertainment followed. Early opera houses hosted traveling performances such as operas, stage plays, and musical variety shows and functioned as community centers. In Montana, richly ornamented theaters such as the Ming Opera in Helena or the McDonald Opera in Philipsburg provided residents a luxurious escape from daily cares. The 1907 Babcock Theater in Billings featured balcony seating and a retiring room, earning it the reputation as the finest theater in the Northwest.\r\n\r\nAs moving pictures emerged in the late 1890s and early 1900s, existing theaters adapted for silent films, adding screens, film projectors, and organs. As films gained in popularity, New York City’s opulent 2,989-seat Mark Strand Theatre, built in 1914, became America’s first movie palace.\r\n \r\nMovie palaces were just as, if not more, ostentatious than early theaters. Common features included velvet curtains and seats, carpeted floors, multiple balconies, and ornate gilded light fixtures. By the 1920s, movie theaters such as the Rialto Theatre in Deer Lodge or the Roman Theatre in Red Lodge welcomed laborers and managers alike to view silent films, and later “talkies,” which incorporated recorded sound.\r\n\r\nMovie theater architectural styles varied widely. While the Art Deco style was popular nationwide in the 1920s, Montana architects chose a variety of designs. With their highly ornamented Beaux Arts, Bavarian-inspired Swiss Chalet, or exotic Spanish Eclectic designs, the buildings enhanced the magical spell cast by motion pictures. Though diverse in character, nearly all of Montana’s early twentieth century movie houses shared recessed entries for displaying posters and prominent marquees. Brightly-lit neon marquees caught the attention of passersby and could often be seen for blocks.\r\n\r\nSome Montana movie theaters declined during the Great Depression while others flourished. In Billings, more than one third of the theaters closed by 1932. Towns like Fort Peck and Forsyth, which benefited from local industry or economic recovery projects, saw new or remodeled theaters. Despite ever-changing technology and challenging economic factors, many historic Montana theaters still operate, recalling the heyday of movie palaces in Montana.</p>","postscript_text":"","tour_img":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/2e473213d91e47cea71ccd6c4f6e2860.jpg","items":[{"id":2382,"title":"Babcock Theatre","latitude":45.782452100000000427826307713985443115234375,"longitude":-108.5069297000000005937181413173675537109375,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/2e473213d91e47cea71ccd6c4f6e2860.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/2e473213d91e47cea71ccd6c4f6e2860.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"2812 2nd Avenue North, Billings, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":123,"title":"Alcazar (Star) Theatre","latitude":45.18653330000000067911969381384551525115966796875,"longitude":-109.247376799999983632005751132965087890625,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/f1e313aa9ebcad8a8b37a31575c76fd9.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/f1e313aa9ebcad8a8b37a31575c76fd9.jpg","subtitle":"Red Lodge Commercial Historic District","address":"9 Broadway Avenue South, Red Lodge, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":186,"title":"Liberty Theatre","latitude":47.50549480000000102108970168046653270721435546875,"longitude":-111.30226620000001958032953552901744842529296875,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/bf914404b8fa0e1474b4639d8db04fc2.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/bf914404b8fa0e1474b4639d8db04fc2.jpg","subtitle":"Great Falls Central Business Historic District","address":"301 Central Avenue, Great Falls, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":2423,"title":"Ruby Theatre","latitude":45.89258989999999727160684415139257907867431640625,"longitude":-111.55272530000002007000148296356201171875,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/2630067af1f727d502c2bbb434f319f7.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/2630067af1f727d502c2bbb434f319f7.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"212 Main Street, Three Forks, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":143,"title":"Roman Theatre","latitude":45.18527000000000271029421128332614898681640625,"longitude":-109.2467864999999846986611373722553253173828125,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/5938a151002d5c142ed6950275cdbfa9.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/5938a151002d5c142ed6950275cdbfa9.jpg","subtitle":"Red Lodge Commercial Historic District","address":"120 Broadway Avenue South , Red Lodge, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":562,"title":"Ellen Theater","latitude":45.67945240000000239888322539627552032470703125,"longitude":-111.03785199999998667408362962305545806884765625,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/0e784d12d0c4896537bbbcde22913d8a.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/0e784d12d0c4896537bbbcde22913d8a.jpg","subtitle":"Main Street Historic District","address":"17 West Main Street, Bozeman, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":1722,"title":"Rialto Theatre","latitude":46.398226800000003322566044516861438751220703125,"longitude":-112.73563120000000026266206987202167510986328125,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/839b5713836f177211fac52cf901d944.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/839b5713836f177211fac52cf901d944.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"418 Main Street, Deer Lodge, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":2035,"title":"Masonic Temple Annex / Fox Theatre, Butte","latitude":46.012205212556551714442321099340915679931640625,"longitude":-112.54170835018157958984375,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/85abaf0f15b11932d32a738635492a28.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/85abaf0f15b11932d32a738635492a28.jpg","subtitle":"Butte National Historic Landmark District","address":"316 West Park Street, Butte, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":132,"title":"The Iris Theater","latitude":45.18653119999999745459717814810574054718017578125,"longitude":-109.247255900000027395435608923435211181640625,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/420e86a5ad667ca66424f3d6ec83fd66.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/420e86a5ad667ca66424f3d6ec83fd66.jpg","subtitle":"Red Lodge Commercial Historic District","address":"7 Broadway Avenue South, Red Lodge, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":1822,"title":"Roxy Theatre","latitude":46.26620390000000071495378506369888782501220703125,"longitude":-106.678515800000013769022189080715179443359375,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/06d98aa9d570b7260fdec8f8991f61ea.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/06d98aa9d570b7260fdec8f8991f61ea.jpg","subtitle":"Forsyth Main Street Historic District","address":"981 Main Street, Forsyth, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":2125,"title":"Yucca Theatre and David M. Manning Residence","latitude":46.293298677098874804869410581886768341064453125,"longitude":-107.2326482042991528942366130650043487548828125,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/598247a4c9dbaa0dd61cda4e6bbb882a.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/598247a4c9dbaa0dd61cda4e6bbb882a.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"324 Elliot Avenue, Hysham, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":338,"title":"Washoe Theater","latitude":46.12781400000000076033757068216800689697265625,"longitude":-112.953209000000015294062905013561248779296875,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/bf134fb083504fec7cc7d92a177ac7fc.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/bf134fb083504fec7cc7d92a177ac7fc.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"305 Main Street, Anaconda, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":2129,"title":"Fort Peck Theatre","latitude":48.00758549999999758028934593312442302703857421875,"longitude":-106.4506182999999737148755230009555816650390625,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/ec9267094c2e64cbbdcaa6d0b972055a.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/ec9267094c2e64cbbdcaa6d0b972055a.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":"201 Missouri Avenue, Fork Peck, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":1631,"title":"Roxy Theater","latitude":46.864439099999998461498762480914592742919921875,"longitude":-113.9971189999999978681444190442562103271484375,"thumbnail":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/square_thumbnails/1703dc1dcc50b30afab23282621aa6e5.jpg","fullsize":"https://mail.historicmt.org/files/fullsize/1703dc1dcc50b30afab23282621aa6e5.jpg","subtitle":"University Area Historic District","address":"718 South Higgins Avenue, Missoula, Montana","custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}}]}